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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares Supported By Citi’s Analyst

Citigroup, which has put a Buy rating on Apple
Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) stock, put together a whole team in order to launch coverage
on the company.

According to Street Insider "To launch coverage
on Apple, Citigroup put together a team lead by Glen Yeung (Semiconductors),
but with co-coverage by Walter Pritchard (Software) and Jim Suva
(Hardware)."

Citigroup said the team approach "reflects
Apple's broad impact to the technology supply chain and allows us to uniquely
follow the company from several industry angles."

Apple is a stock that has seen a consistent Buy rating
across most analysts and brokerage houses though recently some research outfits
have raised questions about the long-term revenue growth of the company.

The recent sell-off in Apple shares is no cause for
concern according to Citi, which feels that it is in conformity with its own
stock history as well as that of its peers.

"Our analysis shows that Apple shares have
corrected consistent with the average correction in its own history, with
companies that have achieved 4 percent of the S&P500, and with companies
that have shown similar deceleration," Citi notes.

"Historically, such corrections are followed by
20 percent-50 percent appreciation in the following 12 months."

Citi has set a price target of $675 for the stock -
which about 11 percent below the Street consensus. The main reason for this
lower value is due to the risks that the company will face from competition,
changes in the market paradigm as well as pressure on profitability.

On Apple's iPads, Citi says, “We expect tablet
penetration to reach 14 percent in 2015, well above third party forecasts of 10
percent, and leading to an 18 percent CAGR for iPad 2012-2015, above these same
3rd parties' estimates."